A Mortal Coil
by Thaumic Writer
Summary: Dark Souls is a tremendous game, with rich lore, and great mechanics. The thing is, it seems that the mechanics are actually part of the lore, not just game mechanics. The problem arises when one considers NG ...
1. Chapter 1

**New story, and this one is focused on a Chosen Undead after NG+9352, and his struggle to escape the cycle of NG.**

**Chapter 1: Painted Ashes, Painted Snow**

Deep underneath Firelink Shrine, were the ruins of a strange building, warped by decay and strange magics, and seared by the linking of the fire. The sky was a dark grey, the sun having no hold here, as the sun had died years earlier. The ruins were made of a dark brick, and ashes covered any surface that wasn't brick, and quite a lot that was.

A strange figure made his way through the ruins. His armour was heavy, and made of brass, in the style of Anor Londo's guards, and his body was completely hidden from vision. In his hands was an extremely large sword, glowing with fiery magic, beyond a simple fire charm, and a shield, with a grass pattern on it. Strapped to his back was an ornate catalyst, reminiscent of the ones used by Vinheim sorcerers, and a light-purple Talisman was attached to his belt.

There were but a few Black Knights guarding the way, who were swiftly dealt with by the stranger, until he finally arrived at his destination.

He came to a fog gate leading into a large circular area, and, after taking a sip from his Estus Flask, pushed his way through. As soon as he entered, another figure rushed towards him. It was Gwyn, once the Lord of Sunlight, now reduced merely to cinders. Despite his size advantage, Gwyn was little more of a threat to the figure than the Black Knights from earlier, as the figure, once again, simply parried the Lord, and riposted him into oblivion.

Eventually, the Lord crumbled, leaving behind only his soul, and ashes.

The Chosen Undead simply stared at where the Lord had fallen, before staggering towards the bonfire in the centre of the wide area. He had suffered no physical wounds on his journey from the Lordvessel, and yet the same could not be said for his mind. His knees collapsed, and his hands clutched his face, tears streaming down the grooves in his armour.

He knew his fate well, and it **would **be fulfilled. Time after time, cycle after cycle. Be it death by fire or death by dark, he would awaken within the Undead Asylum, and Oscar would drop a corpse into his cell, which held the key.

There was a decision, but there was no choice.

He outstretched his hand, and flames consumed him.

\\[T]/

Oscar scrambled up the side of the wall, a swarm of hollows chasing after him, and as he reached the top, he grabbed a spear from his bag, and stabbed at a hollow that came too close, sending them falling far below. He was on top of the roof of the Undead Asylum, and he was letting any sane Undead out of their cells. As the last hollow fell to the depths, he looked around, and saw a hole in the roof he was standing on. Peering in, he saw an Undead, lying on the floor, propped against the wall, in heavy armour. Seeing it's lack of mad behaviour, he picked up a corpse, and tied a cell key around it's neck with a length of string, before pushing it into the cell, and nodding to the Undead when it looked up to see what caused the noise and movement, before he stood up and continued his journey.

\\[T]/

Ryan pushed himself up, steadying himself on the wall. He staggered through the corridors, barely able to keep himself upright, with his mind filled with sadness and forced apathy. He climbed up the ladder that led to the first bonfire, and he stared into it, trying to distract himself from his own reality. After all, he was trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth, and eternal torture. So long as he was resurrected after death, the world was doomed to stay stuck within that span of time that his adventures occupied. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt anything at all. But eventually, he pushed himself away from the bonfire, and forced himself into the arena of the Asylum Demon. Just as expected, it jumped down from the roof, and began it's offensive.

He blocked it's first few strikes, and, when a gap appeared in it's movements, he ran past it, an idea forming in his mind. As he reached another bonfire, he ignored it, and continued his journey.

A hollow began shooting at him, and he raised his shield, blocking the arrows with ease. A single blow severed the hollow's head from it's body, and he continued onward. Ryan came to another fog gate, and pushed himself through. He immediately went down the rightmost stairs, and opened the door, before he ran up the stairs again, and rolled to the right as soon as the boulder came down. He ran up the stairs once more, and killed the hollow there, before he went back down the stairs, and entered the room Oscar was in.

Oscar was lying on a pile of bricks, obviously wounded.

"Oh, you're no Hollow, eh?" Said the luckless knight. "Thank goodness... I'm done for, I'm afraid... I'll die soon, then lose my sanity... I wish to ask something of you... You and I, we're both Undead... Hear me out, will you?"

Ryan stared at the knight, deep in thought after an idea occurred to him, and responded quietly. "So long as you'll listen to me afterwards, of course."

"Regrettably, I have failed in my mission… … But perhaps you can keep the torch lit… … There is an old saying in my family… … Thou who art Undead, art chosen… … In thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of Ancient Lords… … When thou ringeth the Bell of Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know. … Well, now you know… And I can die with hope in my heart… … Oh, one more thing… Here, take this." With this comment, Oscar handed Ryan a rusting key, and started to speak again. "… I would hate to harm you after death… So, please, whatever you want to say... make it quick..."

Ryan reached into his bag, and pulled out a long, thin bottle, filled with what vaguely resembled liquid fire.

"This," He said, "Is a Divine Blessing. It can heal you, and cure whatever other ailments you have. Please, take it. I have almost a hundred of them, I can afford to spare one."

Oscar looked at the Blessing with a mix of awe and confusion. He picked it up, before raising it to his lips, and drinking it's contents. Ryan extended his hand, and Oscar took it, and Ryan pulled him up.

"Now," Ryan said, "Let me explain a few things..."

\\[T]/

After a brief conversation where they revealed their names to each other, the two adventurers sat down at the bonfire in front of the Asylum Demon's arena, and Ryan explained the disaster afflicting the world..

"So... The world is stuck in a loop, with the world resetting itself once the fire is either linked or destroyed?" Inquired the Elite Knight, sitting at the bonfire.

"Yes," answered Ryan. "But I believe that if a group of people were to go through this adventure in the flesh, rather than as phantoms, they might have enough soul power to subvert the usual possible endings. After all, all the Lord Souls are needed for is to open the way to the Kiln of the First Flame, and so perhaps we could end the cycle with enough soul power, held within multiple people."

"So, a hunting party, of sorts? And you want me to join you?" Inquired Oscar, who was debating the pros and cons of helping him.

"Yes. Even if you don't want to sacrifice yourself, I would at least be grateful for company."

They sat there for a good half-minute, Oscar debating whether to help Ryan, and Ryan simply waiting for a response.

Eventually, Oscar made up his mind.

"I will accompany you through the land of ancient lords, Ryan, as my adventure through this land would likely be a death sentence anyway, one way or another. So I might as well help save the world while I'm at it."

Ryan smiled his first genuine smile in decades, and stood up.

"I'm glad you agreed. Now, how about we leave the Asylum?"

**END OF CHAPTER 1**

**How was that? This is going to be a more serious story, although by no means grimdark or anything like that, and I have a good idea for how to change the ending. Here's a hint: The Asylum Demon will drop two humanity sprites this run.**

**Please favourite and review. Review especially. I need advice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**To answer the only review as of this being written, no, no one will be changing equipment (Other than the main character), as their equipment is personally important to them, and the only real changes will be non-standard ascension. Lightning/Divine ascension for Solaire's sword, for example. Here is a list of things that I think about several characters, and are true in this story:**

**Gwynevere is an illusion, as are O&S.**

**The Gwyn boss fight is actually not the ****_real _****Gwyn, more like the Soul of Cinder in Dark Souls Three, but only Gwyn is available as a form (because, you know, that's what the Soul of Cinder is.)**

**Gwyndolin is not trying to take over the world or anything. He just wants to maintain his family's honour, by preserving the illusion of Anor Londo, and also maintaining the illusion of the sun. **

**That's all I can think of right now. If you think of a question, ask it in a review.**

**Back to the story.**

**Chapter 2: This is the Beginning**

As Ryan pushed open the door to the Asylum Demon's arena, he braced himself for the fight. As soon as the door was opened, he rushed forward and to the left, hoping to distract it so Oscar could help. After all, what good would saving him here do if he went Hollow from low self esteem? It was certainly possible, and would have to be avoided.

As the Demon went for an overhead swing, Ryan rolled to the side, and started swinging his Chaos Zweihander at the Demon. Meanwhile, Oscar was behind the Demon, and was slashing away at it. Finally, the dreaded warden o the Asylum fell, and Ryan picked up the key, as well as-

"Two humanity sprites?" Asked Ryan, a thought entering his mind. "But there's normally only one."

"Maybe there are two because we both fought it?" Suggested Oscar, who was wiping the blood off his blade.

Ryan stared at the sprites, then at Oscar, and then back at the sprites.

"Do you know what this means, though?" Said Ryan, a giddiness clearly evident in his voice. "Humanities are shards of the Dark lord soul, and so, if one type of Lord Soul is duplicated with multiple Undead being present in the flesh, then-"

"The other lord souls will be duplicated too... We can use the power of the lord souls to stop this cycle! After all, from what you said, we only need one set of Lord Souls to enter the Kiln." Said Oscar, realisation and hope entering his voice.

"Exactly. So our main goal for now, is recruiting as many people as possible into our group, before taking on the Lordsoul Bearers. And I happen to know a place with lots of Undead who we could recruit. But for now, we should leave this place."

With that, the two heroes opened the door out of the Asylum, and wandered over to the edge of the cliff.

"So... how are we getting down?" said Oscar, as a shadow flew overhead, as Ryan merely smiled.

"You'll see." Replied the smirking warrior.

Suddenly, a pair of birds flew out and grabbed them, and they flew over the land of Ancient Lords.

**Lordran**

The birds flew over Firelink Shrine, and released the two, one flying upwards, and perching on some overgrown rocks, while the over flew into the distance, and was never seen again, as it was promptly bitten in two by some sort of massive drake.

Ryan turned round, and looked for Oscar, who was picking himself off the ground. He gave Ryan a thumbs-up to show he was okay, and Ryan then turned to the Crestfallen Knight, who was staring at the bonfire, as he had been for several centuries straight..

"Good morning. I was wondering if you may help my friend here and I save the world? We need as much help as we can get and I-"

"No thank you. As much as I am _sure _you have good intentions, I have no interest helping you."

"What?!" Oscar blurted out, surprised. "But we want to save the world! You live in the world!"

"Look Oscar," said Ryan, "If the man doesn't want to help, we can't force him. I am sure one person isn't going to make too much difference in the long run. Let's just focus on people who I know will help us. First things first, we need to go up to the Undead Burg and find a man called Solaire. He's a Warrior of Sunlight, and once I explain, he'll be sure to help."

"Makes sense. Lead the way." Replied Oscar begrudgingly.

\\[T]/

They had fought their way through the aqueduct to the Undead Burg, and they had finally arrived at first fog gate.

"You first. I want to see your reaction to this." Ryan said as he pushed Oscar forward.

He pushed his way through the fog gate, and found himself in a large, multi levelled room. There was a staircase leading upwards, which he quickly went up, and a soul item behind the staircase, which was useless by this point. He emerged onto a bridge, and he heard a faint whooshing noise as he advanced. Suddenly, a large drake, likely the one that ate the bird, flew out of nowhere and landed on the bridge, before taking off again, and flying into the distance.

"Ryan." Said the Elite Knight. "Please. _Tell me _that something like that is going to happen beforehand. I would appreciate _not_ having a heart attack, especially in the middle of combat."

"Sure." Replied the smirking warrior. "I'll make sure to do that."

The group pressed on, with only one group of hollows challenging them, (albeit one was a crossbow sniper on a higher level), before they reached another bonfire, and took a rest.

As Ryan was repairing their gear with his repairbox, he was having some thoughts. For one, how was he going to pull this off? As high level as everyone else likely is, to help scale with the difficulty, they were remarkably easy to demotivate. Kill pretty much any Undead, and they almost immediately hollow. Come to think of it, why didn't that ever happen to him? Bah, no need to think about that. Self-exam, he thought, and it becomes much more likely. So, he must focus. Maybe the merchant would be willing to join them? He at least needed to get the key to help Griggs.

"Oscar, I'm going to go buy a key off a nearby merchant. I'll be back." He said, as he left the room.

"Sure. Just be careful." Replied the Knight.

Ryan left the room, and, after casting a few stealth Sorceries, of which he was always a fan, and backstabbing every hollow he came across, he went down the stairs to the merchant. After killing the last hollow, he waited for the Sourceries to end, before he went to talk to the merchant.

"Good Morning," He said, as he rounded the corner. "I heard you were down here. Do you have a residence key by any chance?"

The merchant looked up at him, and responded "1000 souls for a residence key. Don't try to barter, because my prices are fixed."

"Makes sense. But there is another thing," said Ryan. "I am arranging an adventure to save the world, and I-"

"An adventure? Where would I put my things? That's stupid. Go an fall off a cliff."

With that, Ryan left the store, quite miffed at the merchant's flippant attitude, and sat down at the bonfire in a huff.

"What's wrong?" Asked Oscar, who was quite concerned at the temper Ryan displayed.

"The merchant was quite rude. I don't think I'll shop _there _again. Come on, lets get on with this."

**End of Chapter**

**How was it? Too rushed? Too slow? Out of character? Any complaints go in the review section.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Been a while, hasn't it? Thank you for all the views.** **This story is only three chapters long, and already rivals Generator 7 and Draconic Shades, which are approximately tied for second place. Please check out my other stories, especially Questionable but Effective Methods. It is the only fanfiction I have completed.**

**Chapter 3: If Only I Could Be So Grossly Incandescent**

As the two adventurers left the bonfire, they came across a bridge that was constantly bombarded with fireballs by three Undead Warriors, who were on top of a building that was parallel to the bridge, and had a path running along it. Below the bridge, if one was to look, they would see the dimly lighted corridors of Lower Undead Burg, where the dreadful Capra Demon rules, and his Undead guard dogs patrol the ruins.

But that was for much later. For now, the Undead duo crossed the bridge, and entered the building on the other side. There were two Undead Warriors with basic battleaxes, and two doors; one that had bars like the door to a prison cell, and another that was plain wood.

They charged in, with Ryan veering to the left to deal with one hollow, leaving Oscar to deal with the other. Ryan simply parried it's lazy blow, and riposted the pitiful husk of a former man. Oscar was luckily not having much trouble with the hollow, and actually killed it impressively quickly for someone who hadn't fought hollow warriors in quite the while.

However, they had barely defeated the warriors before a new hollow joined the fray, in the form of a sword-wielding hollow soldier. However, with their combined might, it fell in a matter of seconds, and this became the trend as they fought through the Burg. They fought on, until they reached a choice of direction. There were two ways to go. They could go up the tower, and face the Taurus Demon, a chaotic fusion of chaotic embers and bull-like form. Or, they could go down the lower-right path, down which lay a-

"A Black Knight of Gwyn?!" Said Oscar, a feeling of terror rising up within him. "How are we supposed to fight one of those?! Their gracefulness with a blade is matched only by their deadliness! We should turn back, before it sees us."

"Maybe once, but after being reduced to ashes after following Gwyn to Link the First Flame, they lost that grace, and some of their strength," Replied Ryan. "Go on, try to fight it. We have nothing to lose. You may die, but remember that means little to us. I honestly believe in you."

Oscar glanced at the armoured warrior, and back at the Black Knight's exposed back. He walked forward, trying to sneak up on the Knight. Unfortunately, the rattling of his armour gave him away, and the Knight turned to face him.

The maddened spirit ran forwards, and swung it's blade of blackened silver at the Astoran Knight, who blocked the blows. Unfortunately, the Black Knight bashed his shield with it's own, reducing Oscar's stamina drastically, although not enough to knock his shield away. Oscar saw one chance of victory, which he had observed being used on the hollows of the burg. As the Black Knight swung it's sword at our Hollow Hero, he raised his shield and-

There was a the sound of silver against steel, and then a moment of silence, before Oscar realised what happened. Grasping the opportunity, he drove his sword quickly into the heart of the Knight, pushing it to the ground. There was a dull scream, and the Knight faded into light, leaving behind it's sword, and a chunk of Titanite.

"I... I did it... I defeated a Black Knight of Gwyn..." Said Oscar, his voice filled with a shaky surprise, and he grabbed the sword, and raised it off the earth with reverence.

"That you did, my friend. In fact, here, take this." Ryan pulled a sword out of his inventory, and handed it to Oscar, who took it with his spare hand.

"This is a sword from the very Knight you fought just then, from many, many cycles ago. The first, in fact. Only, this one has been reinforced, by my hand, and whether or not you use it, I think you should have it." Said the ancient warrior. "Now, how about we slay a demon, yes?"

\\[T]/

The two Black Knight-slayers entered through the fog, and emerged into this long, and slightly curved path, which was in fact the top of the castle walls. Ryan quickly turned around and climbed the ladder, and killed the two hollow crossbowmen on the tower, before turning around to see Oscar, who had also climbed the tower after him.

"Oscar, I have a question. Do you want me to handle the Taurus Demon, or do you want to try your luck? It's your choice."

Oscar thought for a moment, gazing at the bridge. "I supposed the bridge is too thin for us to both try to defeat it?"

"Not really for phantoms, but for us, yes, due to how far my attacks go to the side, what with this being a rather large sword." Ryan replied, holding his Chaos Zweihander in the air. "Although, I suppose you could use this."

Ryan pulled a Dragonslayer Greatbow out of his inventory, alongside about fifty Dragonslayer Arrows to go along with it. "Take this, it's dangerous to go alone. When I travel along the bridge, and the Demon jumps down, use this to deal damage to it from afar. Now, it is time for us to begin. See you when it's over."

With this, he rolled off the tower, back onto the wall, and advanced to the other side. After getting two thirds of the way across, a Bull Demon born of chaos leapt off the opposite tower, and started to attack. It raised it's axe high, and brought it down on Ryan, who was pushed back. They continued back and forth, until the Demon had pushed him back to the halfway mark.

Oscar was still atop the tower, and had the Arrow drawn back, and was aiming to the best of his ability, sweat sliding down his skin. Finally, he felt confident with his aim, and released the arrow.

The Demon heard the arrow's flight, and turned to see it, right before the arrow hit it straight in it's chest. Pushed back by the force, it almost fell of the side, but managed to get a handhold on the wall. Ryan, seeing this, simply smashed his blade into the beast's hand, making it let go, and sending it plunging off the cliff. And, once again, two humanity sprites appeared at his feet.

Oscar was already running towards him, and Ryan held the two sprites out, to prove his theory right. "It seems I was right about the presence of two of us duplicating the humanities. That is nice to know. Also, good shot. Good idea, too, to time it so the demon fell off the bridge. Now, how about we meet the next member of our group?"

Oscar, not wanting to admit the timing was a fluke, simply replied with a nod. "Yes, that would be nice."

\\[T]/

The duo had just exited onto another, much larger bridge, when Ryan turned right, with Oscar following and came across a Knight gazing at the sun. His armour was quite unique, and on his chest was the emblem of the sun, which reflected the object of his affection.

They approached him, and Ryan waled up to him, which Solaire noticed.

"Ah, hello! You don't look hollow, far from it! I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent to the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am Undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun! Why are you here?"

"That, my friend, is a very long story. That'll take a while to explain." Said Ryan, who was smiling under his armour.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**So, how was this chapter? Too rushed, or not rushed enough? Was Solaire Grossly Incandescent enough for everyone?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Good morning! Another chapter. Please review my story. I put a lot of effort into them, and I'm glad this one is getting such a following, at least by my standards.**

**To answer 4919's review: Congratulations for being the first person to notice the main character is essentially a Giantdad setup, and say so in a review. (Without the mask because 99 endurance renders it inferior to the Giant Armour Helmet). He uses it since it was really useful early game when he was invaded a lot and needed to Pwn some Noobz. He just got really attached to his setup, so he kept the gear over the countless cycles. His greatest regret was having to level DEX to 99 to reach max level. And yes, I do know about the GiantDad setups of real life. If I recall correctly, they used to be paid double because of how dangerous their work is, even more so than normal, due to their charging straight into enemy ranks, or something along those lines. History repeats in interesting and unexpected ways.**

**Basically, the game is actually dictated by the mechanics quite a lot. It isn't an iron grip, so here, Oscar can be saved, and a happy ending reached eventually, but levelling up and inventories all work exactly like in the game. HUD and all. What this means is, with _some_ parts of reality, there really _is_ coding to stop him, such as levelling.**

**Come to think of it, it's been a while since another player invaded him. Sometimes he wonders what happened to everyone else.**

**Chapter 4: Summon Up Some Knights For Hire**

After explaining their quest to Solaire, and the mechanics behind it, the Warrior of Sunlight agreed to travel with them, as his own personal quest would be rather useless, if time reset before he could properly enjoy it. They had just made it up to the top of the stairs, when Ryan turned round, to talk.

"Hey, Oscar," Said Ryan, "Remember when you asked me to warn you about the drake? Give me a second. There is something I have to do." With that, he ran down the bridge a short distance, before rushing back to the place where he was before.

Suddenly, the drake from before rushed up from below, and opened it's mouth to bathe the bridge in flames. The three Undead dodged to the side, as the Drake flew overhead.

"What do we do?! We can't cross the bridge with it there!" Oscar said, in a terrified tone. Ryan however, was remarkably stoic, although it was less remarkable when you realised he faced it thousands of times.

Solaire, as normal, was unfazed, as he head faced much stronger foes in his time, and he had faith they would find a way through.

"It's simple." Replied Ryan. "Just follow my lead."

With that, he simply walked out, over the bridge, until he came to a set of stairs on the right side, leading down below. He quickly turned, to see Oscar and Solaire walking at the same pace, about halfway there, with Solaire in front, due to him walking slightly faster. He Beckoned them to follow him down the stairs, and he went through. Crossing over to the other side, he went further down, and released a ladder that was hanging of the edge of some stairs, which lead down to the earlier bonfire.

However, as he was releasing it, his two friends had came round the corner, and, with Solaire stopping suddenly, and Oscar being in heavy metal armour, the two tumbled into Ryan, sending him falling down to the Bonfire below. He bounced down the ruined stairs, and his head was smashed against the floor and walls, before he hit the wall in front of him, and he fell backwards and slightly diagonally, finally sending him to the floor, laid flat on his back. His vision was spinning, and he fell unconscious, his last thought before blacking out being a simple recognition of pain.

\\[T]/

Solaire and Oscar were down the ladder in a flash, clearly concerned for their friend. Solaire dropped to his knees, and put his ear to Ryan's chest, to listen for a heartbeat. He found it, faintly, (although this was likely caused by the thick armour obscuring the sound), and stood up.

"Well, he isn't dead, luckily, but he does appear to be unconscious. We should probably wait for him to awaken." Said Solaire, and Oscar nodded. After all, it made sense. But he couldn't shake this feeling in his heart. It had been his own rushing forward that had caused Ryan's fall. He thought over the journey Ryan had made over and over again. The trials, and the pain. He sat down on the ground and thought.

He had been fighting well, but well wasn't good enough. He thought about all the Demons and ghosts Ryan and his ilk had faced, the death, and repeated resurrection. Eventually, he came to a realisation. He had to train. And so, he stood up, and turned to Solaire.

"I'm going out to train for a bit. Hone my skills. I'll be back in a short while." He said, and Solaire nodded and waved goodbye.

Due to the ease entailed with fighting the simple Hollows outside, he chose to forgo fighting them first, and simply climbed up the ladder from whence they came. He entered into the middle room, between the bottom room and the bridge, and turned left, and encountered a Hollow Soldier with a spear and shield. He circled around it, and, after eventually outpacing it's own turning and aligning himself with it's back, he plunged his sword into it's back. He continued on, around the corner, and found another Hollow Soldier, this one on a thin ledge, and also equipped with a spear and shield. He lured it forwards, and when it was in the same area he was, he ran to the right, and kicked it multiple times, sending it flying off the edge.

Continuing on, he found a room with three giant rats. They were relentless, but his shield was strong, and he endured. He saw an opening, and took it, and once they were dead, a white flame appeared above the last rat to die. He reached out to touch it, and it faded, leaving behind three humanity sprites.

He continued on, up the ladder, and onward. Killing all Hollows in his way, he quickly came to a large room, open to the sky, with a large, armoured boar straight ahead, as well as a set of stairs leading upwards to the right. He ran up them, and defeated the Hollows up there, before looking down at the boar below. He remembered a rather strange thing he had found on his travels. It was a strange blue skull, and he could sense terribly weak souls, too weak to be absorbed, but still enough to lure Hollows.

He aimed the skull, and sent it flying into a nearby flaming pile of wreckage, the skull shattering, causing the boar to charged straight into the fire, quickly burning it to a crisp.

With all the enemies in the area defeated, he walked back down to the lower floor, and over to the gate, which had been lowered by another Hollow during the fighting. There was no way for him to open it from his side, but on closer examination, there was a lever on the over side.

But just as he turned to leave, a strange sound rang in his ears, and a message appeared near the bottom of his vision, similar to the inventory or bonfire menus.

**Dark Spirit nooBkILLer has Invaded!**

A figure composed of dark-red light slowly formed out of nothing in front of him, and the figure drew a large sword out of it's scabbard. They were dressed in full-body armour, which was composed of bones and some dark substance. There was only one possibility.

This was a Darkwraith.

\\[T]/

Ryan's eyes sprang wide open, a familiar message and associated sound ringing in his head. He sprang up, his eyes darting around, thought quickly.

"Solaire! Where's Oscar?!" He shouted, panic evident in his voice. The incandescent knight was a little surprised by Ryan's speed, but quickly answered.

"He said he was going to hone his skills in the areas above, likely through that side passage. He must have, as the Drake above us moved not an inch!" Solaire replied.

Ryan rushed to the ladder, and climbed up as faster as he could. That was to say, exactly as fast as everyone else did normally. "Come on then, we must hurry! He's being attacked by a Darkwraith!"

"How are we sure he was invaded?" Questioned Solaire, who knew the technical term for Invasions, and was following close behind.

"This area is a mini-hub. Invasions can only happen outside mini-hubs, like where Oscar is!" Ryan and Solaire rushed through the area, not stopping to fight, as the foes were already dead, due to Oscar's trip.

They came to the room that had previously housed the boar, and what they saw shocked them.

**Cliffhanger! Yes, I know it's a overused cliche. But cliches and tropes are the hammers and spanners of communication, so complain all you want, for I have a semi-reasonable excuse. Bwahahahahahahhahaha! (Note how that was one word? That's honesty right there. I could have simply made that Bwahahahahahaha many words to potentially help inflate the word score with no real additional substance, which is the sort of tactic I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever use. Ever) **


	5. Chapter 5

**New Chapter. Not much to say. **

**Chapter 5: A Knight Comes Along As I Wait**

The Darkwraith rushed forward, brandishing it's blade. It lunged forward, but Oscar dodged to the side, and the Wraith sliced the air instead. They fought back and forth, the Darkwraith's sword smashing against Oscar's shield.

Oscar lowered his shield to let his stamina regenerate, and circled around the Darkwraith, before rolling backwards as fast as possible, to give himself time to ready himself. The Wraith lunged forwards again, but Oscar parried the blow, and drove his blade into the Invader, sending him falling to the ground. Oscar tried circling him again, but the Wraith also rolled away, and now they were on opposite sides of the room, with Oscar having his back to the gate.

The Darkwraith steadied himself on the wall, when a sword suddenly burst out of its chest, and the Darkwraith fell forwards.

An armoured figure was standing behind the invader. He was dressed in heavy metal armour, in the Catarina style, and he was wielding a Zweihander, and a Pierce Shield.

The Darkwraith rolled away, and started two-handing his sword. He was now in the middle of Oscar and the Catarina Knight, and was forced to split his attention between them. The Knight ran forward, and attempted to smash the invader, but he dodged to the side, and Oscar stabbed the Wraith in the back, which sent him tumbling to the ground, and fading out of existence.

As the Wraith faded away, the Catarinan Knight sat against the wall, and Oscar followed. They sat down against the wall, and waited a moment, before Oscar chose to speak.

"Thank you for the assistance there. I might not have been able to drive off the Darkwraith without you. My name is Oscar of Astora, and who might you be?"

The Knight took a breath, before answering. "I am Seigmeyer of Catarina, a Knight, and I'm here for adventure. And no need for thanks. Adventuring is my life, and part of adventuring is helping people. It was the least I could do."

There was a silence between the two of them, when suddenly Oscar had an idea.

"My friends and I are planning an adventure, and we need as many people as we can get, and you seem quite good with a blade. Would you consider joining us?"

"Will there be combat?"

"Definitely. And treasure too. We'll be adventuring all across Lordran, in an effort to gather the Lord Souls that came from the First Flame, and... do something. Ryan's explanation went over my head a bit."

"Ryan? One of your friends, I presume?"

"Yes. He's in a miniature version of the armour worn by Lord Gwyn's Giant Guards. He actually has a Zweihander, a bit like yours. There's also Solaire, who's a-"

"Solaire? I know him. Even fought by his side once, in passing. A powerful warrior."

"From what Ryan says, that sounds about right," Said Oscar. "He's apparently strong enough to be a big help against many foes. Oh, a word of warning. Time in Lordran is circular, and Ryan mentioned he's already met you in previous cycles, so if he knows something he shouldn't, that's why. Speaking of Ryan, we should probably go find hi-"

"Oscar! We're here to- Wait, what's going on here?" Ryan shouted as he rounded the corner with Solaire.

Ryan stared at the Catarina Knight in shock. After all, he was supposed to be encountered at the gate to Sen's Fortress, not at the start of the Undead Parish. To be fair, however, Oscar was not meant to survive, so clearly special rules were applied here. Ryan decided to just ignore this glaring inaccuracy, in favour of treating these events as perfectly normal.

\\[T]/

They had been talking for a while, and, after a thorough explanation of their quest, Seigmeyer had also decided to join their group.

They had been travelling through the Undead Parish, and had finally made their way through to the other side of the gate, when Ryan turned around and started talking.

"Alright, everyone. Time for a short rest. Soon, we'll be moving into the church proper, which is significantly harder than out here."

After his short speech, he sat against a wall, and pulled out a book he had stashed away in his inventory, and started reading.

Solaire was sitting down as well, brushing up on his Miracles, making sure he remembered them fully, and so Seigmeyer walked over to Oscar with a question.

"So, Ryan has been through this journey before? This quest of ours?" He asked the Astora Knight, who nodded.

"Yes, although this is the first time he's done so with company, at least in the flesh. When we first talked about the quest, he repeatedly emphasised that death in Lordran wasn't failure, and not to get demotivated." Replied Oscar. "Then he grumbled something about Chaos Bugs or something."

"So, what did he say about me? I must admit, I am curious."

"He said that you're a good fighter, but you need more self confidence."

"Really? He said _that?_ I'm one of the most confident people I know. Why would I need more?"

Oscar grimaced underneath his helmet, before continuing.

"He said that after finding various obstacles you had difficulty traversing, you lost confidence, and eventually hollowed. While he has very rarely seen you fight, he has seen the aftermath, and says that you need more confidence, and to be a bit more willing to accept help, and not to, and keep in mind I'm quoting him, 'jump into a pit of toxic sludge and rotary mouth demons with half a million teeth, and also not to believe himself to be a failure simply because he lost more than half his health points without even using his Estus flask, in the aftermath of the fight. And after that, if you do survive, not to immediately charge a Black Hydra, because without a plan, even a normal Hydra is obscenely hard'. Basically, just don't charge in without a plan, and you'll be quite successful."

"He said all that? Well, what about Solaire? How could he fail?"

Oscar raised his eyebrow at Seigmeyer, although this was quite unnoticeable due to his helmet, before continuing. "Solaire needs to avoid putting mind-controlling, demonic insects on his head. And to not back away just as the enemy would be most vulnerable, and not to throw lightning at enemies he's currently backstabbing, and to not stand right in front of the Gaping Dragon and- It's basically a list of similar things that Solaire does for various fights he's summoned to, and that Ryan finds annoying."

"I... See. And what about yourself?"

"Why are you so interested in what he has to say? This confuses me."

"Well, I simply want to improve my fighting. You mentioned before that we will be fighting the various Lords of Lordran. Is it so much of a hassle to want to improve one's ability when faced with such a trial?"

"I guess that makes sense. He didn't actually have much advice for me, except to 'Not treat one death like it's the end of the world. If he had a humanity sprite for every time he died, he'd be able to give twenty to literally every living being in Lordran, and still be able to get to Chaos Servant +4,' which I guess is good advice."

"Seems to me that he's quite... blunt," said Seigmeyer, before he came up with another question.

"Yes. I agree. But... I think it's because he cares."

"That seems reasonable."

**So, how was this chapter? I am eager to hear your opinion. After all, I need constructive criticism to grow as a writer.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you, dear readers, for reading this story. It means a lot to me. As for the Guest who asked about whether Chapter 5's title is a reference to Aviators, every chapter has a reference to song about Dark Souls, including songs by Aviators.**

**Also, apologies for the previous version of this chapter. When I wrote it, I forgot it was supposed to be more serious than my previous stories. But thanks to your reviews, hopefully I shall improve.**

**Also, I'm thinking of adding ****humorous Omakes to the end of each chapter. What do you think?**

**Chapter 1: Painted Ashes, Painted Snow. This references Fading Light, with it being part of the line, "Born of graves and left below, Painted Ashes, Painted Snow"**

**Chapter 2: This is the Beginning. Okay, so this isn't technically from a Dark Souls song. But there is a video called 'We are the Souls' which is an animation by thePruld, (although not on his channel) with this song playing over it, and it really fits.**

**Chapter 3: If Only I Could Be So Grossly Incandescent. While this may seem like it's only a Solaire quote, and not a song lyric, keep in mind Solaire's voice is so beautiful, anything he says is musical. That, or you could say it's part of the final parts of 'Lordvessel' a song by Tanooki Suit, and also one of VaatiVidya's Soul Songs.**

**Chapter 4: Summon Up Some Knights for Hire. This references JT Music's Song Undead Lullaby, which has this line around 2:54.**

**Chapter 5: A Knight Comes Along As I Wait. This references Let There Be Fire by Aviators, and is the second line.**

**Chapter 6: Vereor Nox:**

There was an odd quiet in the church, as our heroes entered. They had moved around the side of the church, and from their new position, lured out the Berenike Knight guarding the Firekeeper's soul, and quickly overwhelmed it.

From there, Ryan and Oscar used their greatbows to quickly eliminate the Channeler, which was unable to fight back due to it staggering upon being hit. After that, Ryan ran up the stairs, and smashed his Chaos Zweihander into the Balder Knight, and pushed forward.

Ryan rushed into the room full of half-naked hollows, and ran back after drawing their intention. They swarmed out of the room, and Ryan used a Strong Attack to smash them with a overhead attack, killing them all. They progressed throughout the church, killing all Hollows who they crossed paths with, until they reached a Knight, wearing golden armour and imprisoned inside a cell at the top of some stairs, behind a broken door.

"Oh, still human are you? Then I am in luck. Could you help me? As you can see I am stuck, without recourse." Said the Golden Knight, when he saw them. "Please, I have duties to fulfil, and I will reward you handsomely. Well? I am certain you stand to benefit."

Ryan took his Master Key out of his pocket, before hesitating, and using it to unlock the door.

"Thank you, yes, sincerely. I am Knight Lautrec of Carim. I truly appreciate this, and I guarantee a reward, only later." Said the Knight, who began chuckling under his breath.

And with that, Ryan left with his companions trailing out after him.

\\[I]/

"Hmm. So that was Lautrec of Carim? Quite the unnerving fellow." Said Seigmeyer, once they had left the sinister Knight. "He is a necessary part of our plan, you said?"

"Yes. If he kills Anastacia, and we take back her soul from him, we can revive her with a working tongue and legs, and besides, we need literally as many people as possible for my plan." Answered Ryan, as he walked over to a corpse inside a barrel on the second floor. "But first, we need to find Oswald. That'll be simple enough."

And so the party of three Knights and a walking meme climbed to the top of the Parish, until they came to a fog gate.

Ryan stopped, and bent down, touching a glowing, orange summon sign. The others had just climbed onto the level which leads into the arena, when Solaire's phantom arose from the floor, praising the Sun as he rose.

Oscar and Seigmeyer both froze upon seeing this, whilst Ryan simply walked through the Fog Gate. Solaire and Solaire grabbed their hands, and pulled them through the fog too. Ryan had walked onto the centre of the floor, and a Gargoyle on the tower ahead of them awoke from it's stony slumber, and roared at them.

They all rushed forward, the five of them increasing the Gargoyle's health value to 9369, and charged forward, swords raised to meet the stony fiends.

With their blades slicing into it's flesh, the gargoyle let out a cry, before spinning around and slicing it's tail axe against their chests, knocking them against the floor. They fought with all their might, shuffling side to side like zombies- which they were in a sense. Eventually, another gargoyle flew down from the ceiling, and started to attack, to our heroes chagrin.

They fought on and on, with our heroes having to move out of harm's way to chug their Estus. Eventually, however, one of the gargoyles struck Solaire across the chest, sending him flying back.

However, at this moment, the Phantom Solaire threw a Great Lightning Spear into said Gargoyle, before it let out a cry, and finally died. The phantom quickly ran over to it's fleshy counterpart, who was hanging onto the ledge, and his phantom pulled him up.

At this moment, Seigmeyer's +15 Zweihander slammed into the last Gargoyle, which died as well.

There was a moment of pause. The battle was over, and Solaire's phantom faded away, and four Twin Humanity Sprites appeared in Ryan's inventory.

"Well, that was quite the performance." Said Seigmeyer. "Why don't you go ahead and ring the bell, you three? I think I'll have a little nap." At this, the Onionbro fell asleep, still standing upright, and beginning to snore.

Omake:

Deep in Lordran, underneath the sewers called the Depths, and even Blighttown, lies a burning city called Lost Izalith, inhabited solely by infernal parasites, dubbed demons.

But watch, as one figure walks through the burning ruins. Yet another Chosen Undead, and a deadly sinner. Clad in the armour of the Lord's Blades, and brandishing the Lifehunt Scythe, formed of Priscilla's Soul. A hacker, a sinner, and a _casul._

But watch! As the noob approaches the fog gate leading to the Bed of Chaos, they see a Chaos Witch, wielding the Izalith Catalyst, and clad in her family's robes. That wasn't all. From the ground, a dark knight rises, magically coloured a sinister red, his armour covered in deadly thorns.

"Stop, Villain!" Cries out the metallic figure. "My Faithful Companion Robin And I Shall Prevent You From Harming Our Fair City Of Gotham!"

"Kirk, listen!" Says the Witch. "I can't be Robin, my mother's technically still alive. And this isn't Gotham."

"First Of All, Your Mother Turned Into A Demon Tree. That Doesn't Count As Living. Secondly, I'm Batman, Not This Kirk Guy. Although He Does Sound Handsome. And Thirdly, Sure This Is Gotham. Just As Dark, For One."

"The city's on fire!"

"That's What Villain's Do!"

"My mother's not a villain!"

"No She Isn't. She Only Sets Things On Fire By Accident, Or When Someone Murders Your Siblings."

As the two figures argued back and forth, the casul just shrugged, and moved through the fog gate.

**_What?_**

**Almost ten _thousand _health?**

**What the Frampt is up with those health values?!**

**Well, to understand that, time to examine the inner workings of Dark Souls.**

**\\[I]/**

**The first thing to understand is that every time a character finishes Dark Souls, the difficulty of the game increases, including enemy- and boss- health values. Simple, right? Yep. After NG++++++, or NG+6 for short, the difficulty reaches a limit. It doesn't matter if it's the tenth playthrough or the ten thousandth, the health values will be the same for the rest of time.**

**But, every time you enter a fight with more than one person, the boss' health increases accordingly.**

**The formula is simple;**

**Boss Health = This NG's Boss Health * (0.5+(0.5*PlayerCount)**

**Here is an example.**

**It's your first time playing, and you are fighting the Gargoyles alone.**

**The first Gargoyle would have a health value of 999.**

**The formula is:**

**999 = 999 * (0.5+(0.5*1)**

**999 = 999 * (0.5+0.5)**

**999 = 999 * 1**

**However, you are an utter noob, and you die. This time, you revive to human and summon Solaire.**

**Now the Formula is:**

**1499 = 999 * (0.5+(0.5*2) (Rounded up)**

**1499 = 999 * (0.5+1)**

**1499 = 999 * 1.5**

**But what about our dear friends right now? What is happening?**

**9369 = 3123 * (0.5+(0.5*5)**

**9369 = 3123 * (0.5+2.5)**

**9369 = 3123 * 3**

**The five of them caused the _first _Bell Gargoyle's health to _triple._ _Five _of them. You ever wondered how I'm gonna balance the conflict? Yeah. _This _is how.**

**Also, here's another example:**

**209456 = 8056 * (0.5+(0.5*26)**

**Absurd, isn't it? Glad we all know that'll _never _happen**.


End file.
